SL will have to print another trillion rupees - PM

Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Sri Lanka will have to print another one trillion worth of banknotes.

“We have no rupee revenue, and now we have to print another [one] trillion rupees (US$2.7 billion),” Wickremesinghe has said, warning that annual inflation could rocket past 40 per cent in coming months, putting further pressure on Sri Lankan households already grappling with high prices.

During an interview with foreign media, he had further said he will present an interim budget within six weeks, slashing infrastructure projects to divert funds into a two-year relief programme for the crisis-hit island nation.